Labyrinth

Di Williams

Description

This full-colour book offers a unique insight into labyrinths in the UK and wider, combined with Di's own stunning photography. It begins with a potted history of the labyrinth and hints for walking one, shares personal reflections and stories from the labyrinth and explores the variety of settings in which labyrinths are now to be found. It includes a section on how to create your own labyrinth and lead your own labyrinth walk.

Sujets

• Christian mysticism
• Worship
• Mind

Informations

• Publié par: Wild Goose Publications
• Date de parution: 18 janvier 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781849521925
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

In the fast-paced world in which we now live, we need simple, beautiful places like labyrinths that draw us in by the attraction of their pattern to slow ourselves down, still the busy mind and connect us again with our deep inner resources.
This full-colour book offers a unique insight into labyrinths in the UK and wider, combined with Di s own stunning photography. It begins with a potted history of the labyrinth and hints for walking one, shares personal reflections and stories from the labyrinth and explores the variety of settings in which labyrinths are now to be found. It includes a section on how to create your own labyrinth and lead your own labyrinth walk.
Di Williams is an Anglican priest, adult educator, spiritual accompanier, professional bodywork practitioner, writer and the first Labyrinth Master Teacher in the UK. One of the gifts she brings to her work is a deep appreciation of physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual connection. She was awarded the MBE in 2008 for Services to Higher Education for her leading work in developing personal and spiritual support for those of all faiths and none. She is the creator of the beautiful Edinburgh Labyrinth.
www.ionabooks.com
labyrinth
landscape of the soul
Di Williams
Copyright 2009 Di Williams
Published 2011 Wild Goose Publications 4th Floor, Savoy House, 140 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow G2 3DH, UK
www.ionabooks.com
Wild Goose Publications is the publishing division of the Iona Community. Scottish Charity No. SC003794. Limited Company Reg. No. SC096243.
ePub: ISBN 978-1-84952-192-5 Mobipocket: ISBN 978-1-84952-191-8 PDF: ISBN 978-1-84952-190-1
Design by James Hartigan
All rights reserved. Apart from reasonable personal use on the purchaser s own system and related devices, no part of this document or file(s) may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Di Williams has asserted her right in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
Cover picture: Maggie s Centre Labyrinth, Dundee, Scotland
labyrinth
landscape of the soul
Introduction
First Step
Potted History
So what is a Labyrinth?
Walking a Labyrinth
Reflections from the Labyrinth
Tibetan Bells
An Open Heart
One Step at a Time
Seeing Differently
Unblocking the Mind
Freedom of Spirit
A Child s Peace
Beneath the Stone
Across Cultures
Spiritual Reflection
Walking the Path Together
Children and Labyrinths
Discovering Labyrinths
Decoration Fine Art
Parks, Gardens Country Houses
Cathedrals Churches
Hospices Hospitals
Conferences Festivals
Retreats, Counselling Life Coaching
Schools
Colleges Universities
Creating Labyrinths
Classical Seven-Circuit Labyrinth
Medieval Eleven-Circuit Labyrinth
Edinburgh Labyrinth Project
Finger Labyrinth
Facilitating Labyrinths
Facilitating Walks
Facilitator Training
Websites and Suggested Reading
Awake my soul
Pslam 57:8


Trinity Gardens Labyrinth, Whitehaven, England.

Introduction
When I discovered my first labyrinth in 1993 in Threecliffs Bay, South Wales, it was one of only a relatively small number of labyrinths in the British Isles. Out of the blue, I had come across an ancient tool which proved significant in caring for my whole self, body, mind and spirit.
From that moment on the beauty of these ancient circular patterns on the ground captivated me. I discovered that walking them offered a calming of the mind, a nurturing for my soul as well as a healthy bit of gentle exercise!
In the last few years the number of labyrinths being built across the planet has expanded rapidly.
In the UK we are seeing the beginning of a similar growth in construction and use. They are being installed and used in schools, colleges, universities, hospices, urban parks, private and public gardens, spirituality and retreat centres, religious settings, city centre streets, woodland, beaches and many more sites.
The design is popping up in new places such as in circular rugs, on the cover of best selling novels, in pieces of fine and land art, on CD covers, crafted into musical instruments such as Sting s lute and as a mould through which molten chocolate flows in a TV advert!
As more people in the UK are discovering labyrinths near where they live, this straightforward practical guide explains what labyrinths are and shows how a growing number of organisations, groups and individuals are using them. But this book is not simply a practical guide. It charts a personal journey of discovery and awakening. It is a book for the soul.
I hope the photography and words capture the calming beauty of these ancient yet new paths so that in picking up the book you experience a moment of peace or personal reflection.

Saltburn Beach Labyrinth, England.
I carry a deeper hope, that through your encounter with this book you may be persuaded, in the gentlest possible way, to find your way to and through a labyrinth, and maybe, one sunny day on a deserted beach, to make your own!
First step
As far back as I can remember I have sought an inner place of silence.
Through the beauty of a spring time mountain walk, the quiet, early morning slipping of an open canoe across a misty lake, the night wander under a star-full sky, sometimes an awareness of something other has been awakened. In those moments I feel connected with and merged into a wider consciousness, in which I experience enveloping love and deep, deep peace and joy.
I have learned not to expect such experiences. They cannot be forced or earned. They are simply given. As wind blowing through trees they leave their whisper of presence and are gone.
Finding a simple way to quieten my busy mind has always helped me be receptive to the subtle stirring of my soul. Coming across the existence of this ancient path for reflection called a labyrinth has been the discovery of a very special way of doing this.

Mercy Centre Labyrinth, Burlingame, US.
Rounding a headland on the coastal path of the Gower Peninsula my attention was caught by a circular shaped pattern lying in the river valley below where the grass, stone and sand met.
I made my way past the wild ponies and down the cliff to the entrance of what looked at first to be a spiral trail formed from the natural elements in which it lay. It drew me in. Walking through it intrigued me. I loved its simple beauty but didn t connect it with anything more than an enjoyable wander.
I didn t realise that the path I had just walked was part of a history of labyrinth-making that reached back over 4000 years. Neither did I realise on that beautiful spring day that I had begun a journey that would lead to a discovery of the richness of the labyrinth as a means of nourishing the human soul.

Threecliffs Bay Labyrinth, Gower Peninsula, Wales.
Very seldom do you come upon a space when you may stop and simply be. Or wonder who, after all, you are.
Ursula K LeGuin

Threecliffs Bay Labyrinth, Wales.
It was several years later before I encountered my second labyrinth. I was visiting St Martin s College, Lancaster where there is a simple replica of the medieval Chartres Cathedral Labyrinth painted on the ground outside the college chapel. Discovering that a labyrinth workshop was on offer, I decided to go and see what labyrinths were all about.
The labyrinth itself had been painted on tarmac in white paint. It wasn t particularly well made. You could see where some of the lines had been wrongly drawn and an attempt had been made to erase the mistakes. It wasn t the most beautiful of labyrinths but it became an important one in my personal journey.
After an introduction to their history, the workshop facilitator invited each one of us to enter the labyrinth. Just before I stepped in, the facilitator invited me to reflect on the question What do you seek? That particular question proved timely.
I walked the winding but unswerving path to the circle s centre, taking time there to be still and reflect. Somehow the act of walking quietened me. The walk became almost a physical meditation. I left the labyrinth with greater clarity and a deeper sense of integration with the various aspects of my life.
Since then I have encountered labyrinths in many countries and cultures.